What lies beneath the sand? Tiny critters help assess the impact of wetland restoration on coastal environments

You may recall that earlier in the year, Jess called for volunteers to help with a study investigating the impacts of wetland restoration on the coastal environment (read about it here). The research was based on beaches in the cross-border zone of SA and Victoria.

The call for help was answered when several volunteers joined Jess and Lauren for a day at the beach, sifting sand to find what lives within it.

The sampling event took place at both Deep Creek outlet, in Eight Mile Creek SA, and a control site, Nobles Rocks, just over the border in Discovery Bay, Victoria.

We found some interesting things at both sites. Deep Creek outlet was dominated by Polychaetes – marine bristle worms, and one genus in particular, Eunicidae. These worms were so interesting to watch in the sorting trays and would curl up then move through the water like a snake. The Isopod genus Eurydice was the second dominant at Deep Creek outlet.

Nobles Rocks was interestingly dominated by the same Isopod genus, followed by a different Polychaetes genus, Nephtyidae. We also picked up, what I think are Krill holding onto young, in the low tide zone. See the video of them below, that we managed to capture through the microscope, keeping a close eye between the legs. We also found a couple of kelp fly larvae in the high tide zone, which had me stumped for a while when trying to identify them.

Further sampling will take place in the coming weeks to gather more data during a time of high freshwater outflow, to compare with the low outflow season already sampled. If you would like to be a part of this project and to have a look at some of the intertidal fauna you don’t usually get to see, please scroll down for details.

This project is supported by the Limestone Coast Landscape Board’s Grassroots Grants program and is funded by the regional landscape levy.